REPORT: Old Bailey, London | 27 March, 2025.
Journalist Matt Kennard reports for Palestine Deep Dive from outside the Central Criminal Court in London where a protest was held in support of Palestine Action activists, the “Filton 18”.
The Filton 18 were detained without charge for a week under the Terrorism Act before being charged with non-terror offences and remanded to prison, where many of them have been held for months.
They are all accused of being connected to an action which cost the Filton-based research hub of Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, over £1 million, according to Palestine Action.
The action which took place in August 2024 included damaging quadcopter drones being manufactured in the UK which may have been otherwise shipped for use in Gaza.
Quadcopter drones have been widely used by the Israeli army in its ongoing genocide, the robotic devices are regularly used to kill and surveil Palestinians under occupation both in Gaza and in the West Bank.
The hearing addressed in this report relates to the British police’s attempts to assert that a ‘terrorism connection’ exists in relation to the case, a declaration which has been challenged by four United Nations Special Rapporteurs.
“If at sentencing a terrorism connection comes into play, there will be an exponential extension on any kind of sentencing they get, it will be very severe.” Palestine Action activist Lisa Luxx tells Palestine Deep Dive.
Asked what the feeling is among Palestine Action activists in light of the potential severe sentencing from British courts, Lisa responds:
“We won’t be intimidated into allowing a genocide to continue. We will stand by all of our prisoners and will continue to stand by the Palestinian people tooth and nail until Elbit [Systems] is out of this country!”
The UK government is legally required to halt all weapons export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression or serious violations of international humanitarian law.
After 18-months of Israel’s ongoing genocide on Gaza, which has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, the UK government continues to refuse to apply an arms embargo on Israel and continues to export weapons.
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